When should I use a struct rather than a class in C#?

Question

When should you use struct and not class in C#? My conceptual model is that structs are used in times when the item is merely a collection of value types. A way to

Answer 1

Here is a basic rule.

• If all member fields are value types create a struct.

• If any one member field is a reference type, create a class. This is because the reference type field will need the heap allocation anyway.

Exmaples

public struct MyPoint 
{
    public int X; // Value Type
    public int Y; // Value Type
}

public class MyPointWithName 
{
    public int X; // Value Type
    public int Y; // Value Type
    public string Name; // Reference Type
}